The Rebel (1959–1961): Season 1, Episode 20 - Land - full transcript

Yuma brings old farmer Frank Gottwald a document proving he's right in his land dispute with Dan Hauser. But since Gottwald lacks money for an appeal, and despite his bad heart, he agrees to Hauser's deal to walk his entire land in the hot sun---which could prove fatal.

Where's the Gottwald hearing going on?

City Hall, further into town.

Thanks.

Come on!

You lie now, Hauser.

You are a thief!

Your honor, your honor,

he oughta be put away.

I'll have some dignity during these proceedings.

This is a private hearing, but it still

constitutes a court of law.



How I said shut up!

I have proof, I tell you!

I have proof.

Frank!

Sit down.

How many times have I told you you can't get excited?

The old fool.

I've never seen a man so crazy for land.

But the Blue Creek is mine.

- It belongs to me!
- Okay now, quiet!

Getting excited isn't gonna prove anything.

Now just take it easy.

He keeps getting riled up that-a-way,

he's not gonna give you too much more trouble.



There won't be trouble anyway.

He doesn't have a chance.

Your honor, the plaintiff is obviously

a very sick man.

It's cruel to keep him here in court

and since the plaintiff has offered no evidence

to support his rather extravagant claim.

Your honor!

Mr. Gottwald has that evidence now.

♪ Johnny Yuma was a rebel ♪

♪ He roamed through the West ♪

♪ That Johnny Yuma, the Rebel ♪

♪ He wandered alone ♪

♪ Johnny Yuma ♪

My name's Yuma, your honor, Johnny Yuma.

Mr. Gottwald sent me to the Federal Land Grant Office

is Des Moines for this paper.

It's a duplicate copy of the original section survey.

Your honor, this is very irregular.

Looks pretty regular me..

Son, how'd you know about this?

I stopped by Mr. Godwell's place a couple of weeks ago

looking for work.

He didn't have anything on his farm, but he was looking

for someone to ride to Des Moines for him.

He told me he remembered his brother telling him

once about this duplicate.

Now, you're a fine lawyer.

I thought you had this all sewed up.

How could I know about that paper?

Now sit down, everybody.

I got something to say.

Dan, this here piece of paper shows the Blue Creek

runs across the Gottwald land.

Then it's wrong!

Blue Creek is mine.

You lie, Hauser!

- Ow I have to prove.
- Frank, sit down.

Now, now, calm down, Frank.

We don't want you kicking off right here in court.

I think I got me a plan.

Judge, nobody wants to take this thing

all the way through the courts.

Maybe I got a plan that we can settle

this thing out of court.

Frank, would you be willing to compromise?

If you say Blue Creek is mine and he appeals,

will it cost me money?

As sure as I'm sitting here.

I got no money.

I talk it over.

Now all of ya clear out of here except the principles.

You can stay, Dr. Mac.

That Yuma kid kinda messed things up for ya, didn't he?

Want me to lump him up a little?

It's none of my business if you don't like his face.

If it's land you want, I'll give it to you,

all you want.

What do you mean?

Neither want of us want to go on in court with this,

is let's make a deal.

I keep Blue Creek.

It's close to my stock pens.

In exchange, I'll give you the pick of the land

on my south range, all you can walk around

from six in the morning to six at night.

You mean that?

I'm making a settlement.

That's what you want, ain't it?

I'll do it.

Frank, I won't let you do it.

Your heart can't stand it.

Judge, you witness this.

Don't let him change his mind.

Frank, you better think this over carefully.

A man can walk an awful lot of land in one day.

Yeah, I must have this land for my work.

Draw up the agreement right away.

Just put down that he's got to get around

under his own power and if he don't get back

to the starting point, he gets nothing.

Frank, don't be a stubborn old fool.

At this time of year, the temperature on that south range

is gonna be over 110 and he knows it.

With your heart, you'll never make it.

I've got to have that land.

Well, write it down or I'll get someone that will.

Signed Daniel Hauser, agreed to, Frank Gottwald,

witness, Elwood Perks,

- Donald Fleech.
- Come on,

you better get out here quick.

It's that rebel boy.

- Who was it, Johnny?
- I couldn't tell.

Where'd he get you?

In my self respect.

Don't worry, I've been hit harder.

This must be Hauser's doing.

He can't do this.

Mr. Gottwald.

- Thanks.
- Wait a minute.

I want to talk to ya.

What do you want?

I hated to have anything to do with that agreement.

It may be legal, but it's not ethical.

What agreement?

I'll tell ya later.

Justice sometimes triumphs over the letter of the law.

I hope this is one of those times.

No matter what you say, that walk'll kill ya

and Hauser knows it.

Maybe, but I've got to take the chance.

Come, I'll show you why.

In the old country, we knew that land

must not be wasted.

Johnny, what would you say is the main crop here now?

Well, cattle, I guess,

if you call that a crop.

Yeah, now how much land does it take

to fatten one steer for the month?

Oh, two, maybe three acres.

Yeah, now come.

Now look at this corn.

You were lucky.

It is a good crop, but who wants to eat corn?

Pigs.

Pigs?

Pigs got little bellies.

Grass is no good for them, but the corn,

they grow like balloons.

Johnny, on one acre of corn, I can raise 10,

maybe 15 hogs on one acre, Johnny.

Like I said, you were lucky.

It's the tallest corn I've ever seen.

Lucky!

Johnny, I develop this corn.

This is a hybrid, you see.

Give me land enough, in 15 years, I grow this corn

so high that you can ride through it with your horse

and never see over the top!

15 years, that's a long time.

Yeah, with that heart I got, I won't make it,

but my son will.

He's in agricultural college.

When he comes home, he takes over where I stop.

So you raise corn and feed it to the hogs

and make a lot of money.

Is this worth killing yourself for?

But Johnny, not for me.

You must understand that, Johnny.

Let them raise their cattle in Texas, walk west somewhere

where nothing grows but grass, but not here

on the black earth.

Johnny, right here, I can feed the nation.

Give me enough land and enough time,

I can change the face of the Midwest.

I can change the face of the world.

Now, now before we get started,

let's understand each other.

The agreement's plain enough.

So are the motives.

I'd of sworn you'd be gone by now, sonny.

Not without saying a proper goodbye.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute,

now, at six o'clock on the button Frank,

you start walking from Lineman's Point

into the south range.

You can walk around any land that you want.

Right, Hauser?

That's the deal.

Frank has got to make a complete circle,

staking out as he goes.

The main thing is, you got to be back

the first stake by six o'clock in the evening

or you get nothing.

But I get Blue Creek no matter what.

That's all right with me.

Here's the stakes for you to mark with, Frank.

I'll go along with Mr. Gottwald

and help him carry these.

Wait just a minute.

Gottwald is to do all of this by himself.

That sounds fair enough, sonny.

You'll have to carry 'em yourself, Frank.

All right.

And while we're at it, Judge.

- Yeah?
- What's to prevent him

from having a horse stashed out some place

and once he's out of sight, riding around my land?

I've got to be protected.

Well, if you don't trust him, go along with him.

Not me!

You think I'm out of my mind?

I'll have Falton go along.

It's all right with me.

I'll just go along to watch Falton.

You do that, sonny.

Let's get going.

Frank, you'll never make it.

The heat and the exertion'll kill ya.

My dear friend, it's worth the gamble.

You must understand.

- He's right, Dr. Mac.
- You too?

If the frame's big enough, the odds can be mighty small.

As your doctor Frank, I'm going along with you.

No, thank you.

You would only hold me back.

A couple of fuzzy-headed visionaries.

Yuma, why don't you go chase a girl or something?

I know Gottwald.

Once he gets in the bottomlands, he'll go wild.

Make sure he goes too far.

I could do more than that.

I don't think you'll have to.

Just keep him moving.

Heat'll do the rest.

Better get ready, Frank.

Go!

Come on, Johnny.

Mr. Gottwald, look.

You got to take it easy.

It's gonna be a long day.

I move fast before the sun gets high.

That's right, old man.

You better move fast.

Come on.

You better slow down, Mr. Gottwald.

Soon, Johnny, but not yet.

Look at this land!

Look at the soil.

Gottwald.

All right, all right, Mr. Gottwald.

Ah, all right.

I'll go back.

You gotta hand it to him.

Too bad he won't make it.

The day's not through yet.

No?

Well, he is.

Now I don't know if hardly that's according

to the rules, sonny, but I'll be big about it.

I won't tell nobody.

Falton, I've taken about all I can stand from you.

Is that a fact?

Now I'd say you'd take more.

Johnny, how far is it?

Too far.

It's all off, Mr. Gottwald.

You can't make it now.

I must, Johnny.

I almost have the land I need.

Can't you understand?

It won't do ya any good if you're dead!

I'm feeling better now, Johnny.

I'll get back.

I'll make it for my son.

Stubborn, ain't he?

He might even make it.

Sonny?

That would kinda complicate things, wouldn't it?

No sign of him yet.

Could be in one of those gullies.

Lineman's Point, how far?

Just over the rise.

You better lie still.

I'll get some help.

That's right, old man.

You just take it easy.

Can't say you didn't try.

No, no, I go, I make it.

Whoa!

All right, Yuma.

I guess you're calling it.

Gunshots?

That's all right.

I told Falton to signal me

when he got to the other side of the ridge.

He made it.

Gottwald was dead up there.

He never made it.

He is dead, ain't he?

He's dead.

As of now.

That's right, isn't it, Judge?

A man isn't dead until he's pronounced dead?

That's right, son.

Well, you just lost yourself a mess of land

and a ramrod.

Where is Falton?

He drew first, just like he was ordered to.

You're trying to rob be.

Gottwald was supposed to get back on his own power.

And that's what he did!

Nothing helped him, unless it was something called justice.

You waste my land!

This is cattle country.

You can't fence it off.

Can't I make you see that Gottwald was a madman?

Everybody knows that you can't farm prairie land.

You can't grow corn in Nebraska.

Nobody can!

Frank Gottwald can.

♪ Johnny Yuma was a rebel ♪

♪ He roamed through the West ♪

♪ And Johnny Yuma, the Rebel ♪

♪ He wandered alone ♪

♪ He got fighting mad, this rebel lad ♪

♪ He packed no star as he wandered far ♪

♪ Where the only law was a hook and the draw ♪

♪ The Rebel ♪
♪ Away ♪

♪ Johnny Yuma ♪
♪ Away rode the Rebel ♪

♪ Johnny Yuma was a rebel ♪

♪ He roamed through the West ♪

♪ That Johnny the rebel, he wandered alone ♪

♪ He searched the land, this restless land ♪

♪ He was panther quick and leather tough ♪

♪ 'Cause he figured that he had been pushed enough ♪

♪ The Rebel ♪
♪ Away ♪

♪ Johnny Yuma ♪
♪ Away rode the Rebel ♪

♪ Johnny Yuma ♪

♪ John Yuma ♪